STRAND x FEMMESTIVAL Spotlight: Hena

Hena is an inspiring, up-and-coming London-based artist who aims to make her listeners feel seen and heard. Drawing from both her personal experiences and imagination, she writes songs that celebrate connection and inclusivity. As she continues to rise in the music industry, Hena hopes to create more positive representation for South Asian women, advocating for them to pursue their creative dreams and break through the barriers holding them back.

On November 15th, Hena will be performing at FEMMESTIVAL, an all-female festival dedicated to celebrating women and closing the gender gap in the music industry.

What made you want to become a singer-songwriter?

As a kid, I used to always make up songs on the fly, like I would be in our local grocery store, singing about some monkey in a tree. It was always in me. My Dad would always play music in the car, from Bollywood music to Luther Vandross; he always had music going on around us and a great vinyl collection. Because of this, I always saw music as life. When I moved to Ghana, I joined the Guitar Club with a friend, and I was so inspired by all these different instruments. I then asked my dad for a guitar, and I just started messing around with it. I soon realized I could create random chords, progressions, and sounds. In 2022, I wrote my first song "Waiting for You" after going through heartbreak. I kept strumming two chords over and over again until I felt this urge to sing. I recorded it in one go in my voice memos. I felt the desire to record it as it was, without changing much of the lyrics. Essentially, I want to sing and write songs because it feels natural for me. Also, there are very few South Asian women in the industry right now, and I hope to inspire some other women and make a mark in some way.

How would you describe your style of music?

I would describe my music as largely improvised. To write my songs, I think of a chord progression or a melody. I'm not trained to play the guitar, so I'm mostly freestyling. Then, I sing over and over again in my voice memos, and from there, I build my songs. In terms of genre, my voice has an alternative/soul sound to it, so I feel like I fit within that category. But it's very challenging for me to find a genre because I don't see many people from my cultural heritage engrained within the genres I want to be in. Sometimes I feel my band and I are crafting something of our own. We’re experimenting with combining Indian scales and instruments for my songs. Ultimately, I believe my music sits within the indie, soul, and alternative jazz genres.

You made a video on Instagram about sampling the Powerpuff Girls' theme song for your song "Everything Nice." In the video, you talk about how women are put under vast amounts of pressure to be "sugar, spice, and everything nice." On November 15th, you will be performing at FEMMESTIVAL, an all-female festival. How do you feel as a woman in the industry? Do you believe there is a fair representation of women in music?

It's hard for me to say, but I hope there is. I definitely listen to many female artists. The song "Everything Nice" was inspired by an interaction I had with some people who were crossing my boundaries, and felt comfortable doing so I think because of our gender differences. This interaction made me realize I had been bending over backwards for what I thought was love and affection, and I wasn’t willing to do that anymore. I realised how I put a lot of pressure on myself due to societal pressures and I thought about that linked back to the old saying that girls are made up of "sugar, spice, and everything nice." Sometimes, I am shocked that it's even a quote. How could women and girls ever be expected to be all of those things at once?

Do you have any female role models that have influenced you and the way you write songs?

I really like Kelela. I really like her sound and aesthetic. I also like Raveena. She's an Indian Sikh artist based in LA. She talks a lot about meditation, auras, and themes I really resonate with. I really like Tirzah, who is a bit underground. I enjoy the improvised quality of her music. She has this way of captivating me with her sound. I think her collaborators are like family, and that's something I aspire to have. I think I’m actually building that now, which I’m happy about. I also really enjoy listening to Lianne La Havas and Gavanya.

In a previous interview, you mentioned that one of the main intentions behind your music is to make your listeners feel seen and heard. To what extent do you think music, and art in general, can impact society and make change?

Music has had a profound impact on my existence and I think music really does have the potential to uplift people, to make them feel like they have company when they are alone. I think music should be jovial as well. In terms of making change, sometimes it feels like music is no longer political. We're getting hits, we're getting bangers, but we're not always getting music that makes you more aware of the world. I would like to have a sound that speaks about these issues, though.

Are you hoping for more political music going forward?

I am, yes. I like listening to Jimi Hendrix and music from the 60s, where artists are really actually speaking about what's going on in the world around them. For instance, George Harrison’s song Bangla Desh tied music with humanitarian efforts. I think that's really cool. Sometimes I wonder how many songs from big artists do that today. Major labels have a very tight grip on artists and what they sing about. It's not just the artist writing the lyrics to their songs. I’m not sure if I aspire towards that if I'm honest. If I end up being a lo-fi artist my whole life with a hundred listeners, that's okay, as long as I'm not censoring myself.

In this respect, your music feels deeply personal. In the same interview, you spoke about how songwriting was a way to channel your emotions. Are all of your songs thus based on personal experiences, or do you leave room for imagination?

A hundred per cent. I have a song called “Wake Up!” which I hope to release next year. Within the song, the audience follows me into a dream I am having - though I don’t make that obvious until the pre-chorus. I liked writing in this way because I get to take the listeners on a journey, and it showed me that writing from a dreamy-fictional place can still make a meaningful song. All my songs have elements of myself and my experience of life in there but I really do enjoy building a story in my mind and creating a song from that.  That made me imagine a song where I'm taking the audience on a journey, but none of it is real; it's all fictitious. So, I definitely write from my imagination a lot. I like to tell stories on behalf of others and people who don't have a voice, like certain people in my family. I'm definitely the first person in my family to ever have been on a stage. So, I think with that, I carry a lot of other stories. I try to bring them into my music. I also have a song called "Shakti," which is the Sanskrit word for power. I wrote that song for and about my little sister. I thought about how there are no songs I can think of that empower me as a brown woman and truly understand me. So, I wrote the song about that topic.

You are also a writer and have spoken about your love for literature in past interviews. How do you think literature has influenced the way you write songs?

From a young age, I've loved poetry. The work of the poet Rupert Brooke really touched me when I was in year seven or eight. He has a poem called "Clouds," where he uses the word 'clouds' to describe how World War One made him feel. From there, I guess I've always been scribbling down poems of my own, and that informs a lot of my songwriting. I never really thought about how the two play together, but I think what literature does is that it tells a story and transports you. Books/poems have so much meaning in every single word. In my music, I try to think about the significance of every word and how they play together. One thing I loved about English class was the use of sensory language, and how it makes people feel immersed. I want people to feel something, and hopefully, that comes through in my work.

You have written many articles on travelling and travelling as a South Asian woman. How have your travels informed your music?

Honestly, travel has informed my entire being. Not a day goes by when I don't reflect back on a travel memory. Even the cold air today made me think about the time I was in Bhutan on a school trip. So, travel informs everything about me: the jobs I take, the conversations I have, the books I read. In terms of music, if I hadn't gone to school in Ghana, where I was dragged to Guitar Club, I don't think I would be making music. So that, in a huge way, has informed my music. Music was part of the culture there. My teacher would teach during the day and play guitar in the evening. So, I like seeing that duality in people, and that's similar to what I do. I work during the day and play music whenever I can. I'm also Indian, and music is very important in Indian culture. For Diwali, my mum does prayers and sings mantras in Hindi. Seeing the range of vocals and different scales is something I don't hear in Western music. I like to incorporate that into my music in any way I can.

During a round of ‘this or that’ in your interview with Voices Radio, you confessed that you preferred gigs to festivals. Is that still the case, and why?

It’s funny that I said that because I had a really fun festival experience recently. To be fair, I really enjoy gigs because it's a much more intimate setting. Artists think very carefully about their setlists because it has their name on it. You’re buying a ticket to see them at this venue. Whereas in festivals, you buy a ticket, and you kind of waddle around; it's just a bit more free. Then again, I haven't been to Glastonbury, so I bet if I ever get to go, I'd change my mind. But I can read the room so enjoyably as an artist in a small gig setting. When people are chatting and then you start singing a song, and it all becomes quiet, you see people are actually resonating with it. You don’t really get that at a festival.

On that note, do you remember your first gig? How does it compare to how you perform now?

My first gig was an open mic in Peckham. I kept making up songs at home, I was sad about something I’d gone through, and I was singing to get over it. My sister told me I was actually quite good and if I focused on music, I could probably do well. That was the first time someone gave me feedback on my music. I always wanted to do it, but I could never cross that boundary and just sing for people. So hearing that from my sister, someone I value, really changed everything. I decided to throw a gig. It was meant to be an open mic, but in my head, I knew there would only be two or three people there. So, I told all my friends to come, and quite a lot of people showed up. I wasn’t very good, I was so nervous. I stopped mid-song for a few of them and started cracking up. That gig solidified the idea that this is what I should do. It was really nice. When I was in Ghana, I had such anxiety as a kid. I would watch everyone perform and wish that was me. So, it was a big moment for me. Now, I look forward to gigs. What’s changed is that I’ve had so much positive affirmation from people, and I’ve gotten out of my comfort zone. I’ve let people in, and shown them who I am, and it’s made things easier.

What are your plans for the future? Any upcoming songs we should be on the lookout for?

I’m working on an EP, and it’s all coming together now. I’ve gigged the song so much around London, and I’ve gotten such nice feedback that I finally feel like it’s ready. "Wake Up !" and "Shakti" will be coming out. But there are many more songs in the works too!

To follow Hena's work, follow her on Instagram.

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Edited by Oisín McGilloway, Editor-in-Chief